Lightning, IT Diffusion and Economic Growth across US States

Thomas Barnebeck Andersen, Jeanet Bentzen, Carl-Johan Dalgaard () and Pablo Selaya ()
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Thomas Barnebeck Andersen: Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen
Jeanet Bentzen: Department of Economics, University of Copenhagen

No 09-18, Discussion Papers from University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics

Abstract: Empirically, a higher frequency of lightning strikes is associated with slower growth in labor productivity across the 48 contiguous US states after 1990; before 1990 there is no correlation between growth and lightning. Other climate variables (e.g., temperature, rainfall and tornadoes) do not conform to this pattern. A viable explanation is that lightning influences IT diffusion. By causing voltage spikes and dips, a higher frequency of ground strikes leads to damaged digital equipment and thus higher IT user costs. Accordingly, the flash density (strikes per square km per year) should adversely affect the speed of IT diffusion. We find that lightning indeed seems to have slowed IT diffusion, conditional on standard controls. Hence, an increasing macroeconomic sensitivity to lightning may be due to the increasing importance of digital technologies for the growth process.

Keywords: climate; IT diffusion; economic growth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O33 O51 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-fdg and nep-pke
Date: 2009-09

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